Jesus Wasn't Talking to You( the Body of Christ)

8/19/2019 Jesus Wasn't Talking to You( the Body of Christ)

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about PRAYER when He said After this manner therefore pray ye, and that should beobvious from the fact that Israel was Gods firstborn son (Exodus 4:22) and Gentiles were strangers (Ephesians 2:12); so that we could not even say Our Father as God was not our father and we were part of the first Adams sinful family. (I Corinthians 15:22)

We expect to meet the Lord in the air (I Thessalonians 4:17) when we are absent from the body and to be present with the Lord (II Corinthians 5:8) in heavenly places, so it would be silly for us to pray Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven (Matthew 6:10) when it is not our kingdom and we wont be onthe earth.

Jesus wasnt talking to you about prayer when He said Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you (John 16.23); and you would be the wrong person to have such authority in prayer for we know not what we should pray for aswe ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groaning which cannot be uttered. (Romans 8:26)

Jesus wasnt talking to you about prayer when He said whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shallbe loosed in heaven. (Matthew 16:19) Christ was talking to Peter, the same Peterwho did not understand the cross, the same Peter who failed the first time he tried to bind something. (Matthew 16:21-23)

Jesus wasnt talking to you about faith as a grain of mustard seed or mountain movin faith (Matthew 17:20) and you know that because you cannot even turn to the next page in this book without using your fingers.

Jesus wasn't talking to you about your SALVATION when He said For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. (Matthew 6:14-15)

On this side of Christs cross, we know that God is not even imputing trespasses to us (II Corinthians 5:19) because God imputed them to Christ. (II Corinthians 5:21)

Jesus wasnt talking to you about your salvation when He said Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. John 3:7 Rather than a new birth, we become an entirely new creature (II Corinthians 5:17); and our life is hid in Christ (Colossians 3:3) and begins with our crucifixion (Galatians 2:20) and our death to the old man (Romans 6:4-6), not with a second birth.

Christ was talking to one man, Nicodemus, and we know that because the words thee and thou in our King James Bibles are always nominative singular. Christ, who wassent not but to the lost sheep of the house of Israel (Matthew 15:24), tells Nicodemus about what all Israel must do, and we know that because the words ye and youin our King James Bibles are always nominative plural.

Jesus was saying to one man what all Israel must do, to which Peter agreed. (I P

eter 1:23) And we know that Peter was not talking to Gentiles (I Peter 2:12) and that neither Peter nor Israel were in possession of Gods grace. (I Peter 1:13)

Jesus wasnt talking to you about your salvation when He said But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. (Matthew 24:13) The whole of Matthew 24 involves Christs explaining elements of the Great Tribulation (Matthew 24:21) to the Hebrew people.

Miles Coverdale said in 1535 that It shall greatly help ye to understand the Scriptures if thou mark not only what is spoken or written, but of whom and to whom,



with what words, at what time, where, to what intent, with what circumstances,considering what goeth before and what followeth after.

Christs statement about enduring to the end is in the context of Daniels abomination of desolation (Matthew 24:15) and the gospel of the kingdom (Matthew 24:14),not the gospel of the grace of God. (Acts 20:24)

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (John 3:16)

This most popular and most familiar of all Bible verses is not the gospel by which your soul is saved: we get that from Christ, but through Paul: Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel... By which also ye are saved... how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures: (1 Corinthians 15:1-4)

John 3:16 is about the Hebrew people (John

4:22), and is conditional upon performance. (John

5:29) It relates to Israels receiving its Messiah (John 1:12) to which they testified by being baptized in water (John 1:30-31).

While new translations say that Jesus was Gods only son or one and only son, we knthats not true (Exodus 4:22, Galatians 4:6). And we know Christ was not begottenin Bethlehem because Paul tells us Christ was begotten at the cross (Acts 13:33) which confirmed the prophecy in the Second Psalm.

If, then, you have tickets to the ballgame and you have painted John 3:16 on yourchest: keep your shirt on.

Jesus is not talking to you about HEALING when He said Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give. (Matthew 10:8) Neither you nor your Pastor nor the Evangelist who showed up in his half-million dollar bus can cure acne pimples, much less cleanse lepers. Stories are told about the dead being raised, and many claim to have cast out devils;

but those events never seem to be independently verified and you never read such things in your newspaper. All youd need to do to convince the gainsayers wouldbe to hold a Healing Meeting with all the greatest Faith Healers in America, and cue just one acne zit: just one nasty little pimple.

The men Christ sent to heal were not to go to Gentiles (Matthew 10:5) but only to Israel, and that was because the Jews, the Hebrew people, require a sign. (I Corinthians 1:22)

Signs, including healing, served the purpose of providing proof of a man, his message, and his ministry. While there are literally dozens of examples in your Bible, this one stands out:

And John calling unto him two of his disciples sent them to Jesus, saying, Art thou he that should come? or look we for another? When the men were come unto him, they said, John Baptist hath sent us unto thee, saying, Art thou he that should come? or look we for another? And in that same hour he cured many of their infirmities and plagues, and of evil spirits; and unto many that were blind he gavesight. Then Jesus answering said unto them, Go your way, and tell John what things ye have seen and heard; how that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, to the poor the gospel is preached. (Luke 7:19-22)



The purpose of the healings which Christ performed was not about the sick people or about sick people being healed: the purpose of the miracles performed in the passage was to provide proof to John that Jesus was in fact the Messiah.

Jesus ministry to Israel was the issue when Isaiah prophesied that ...with his stripes we are healed, (Isaiah 53:5) for the we in the passage most certainly would not include Gentiles. When Peter quotes Isaiah (I Peter 2:24) he was speaking to Israel (I Peter 2:12); and since we do not requires signs, we should know betterthan to expect healing miracles.

Jesus instructed the apostle Paul to tell us that the sufferings of this presenttime are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. (Romans 8:18)

Christ updated Paul with respect to healing when Paul learned My grace is sufficient for thee: (II Corinthians 12:9) Paul had prayed three times to be healed; but after Christ gave him this new information about the sufficiency of grace, Paul immediately adjusted: Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong. (II Corinthians 12:10)

Paul says that he is taking pleasure in what most people who attend healing meetings want to go away: someone is wrong, and its not Paul.

Jesus Christ existed before Bethlehem (John 1:15), was born to Mary (Luke 2:7),grew up as a child (Luke 2:34), became a man (Romans 5:15) and arose from the dead (Luke 24:34). These facts make it clear that Jesus Christ the same yesterday,and to day, and for ever (Hebrews 13:8) could not possibly be about anything physical.

Christ is unchanged in His holiness, in His sinless perfection, in His godly attributes: Christs dealings with people changed, and that should be as clear to see as a zit on someones nose. about your ABUNDANT LIFE when He said The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. (John 10:10)

The thief is going to be the antichrist (Matthew 24:43) and they are the lost sheep

of the house of Israel to whom Christ came. (Matthew 10:6, 15:24)

Christ instructed the apostle Paul to tell us to learn in whatsoever state I am,therewith to be content, (Philippians 4:11) and that because godliness with contentment is great gain. (I Timothy 6:6)

The story is often repeated of a man who gained great wealth, but lost it all. He did not give up; he worked hard, and he amassed an even greater fortune. His testimony was Ive been rich and Ive been poor: rich is better.

Paul said that the issue was not being rich or bring poor but serving Christ regardless of circumstances. (Philippians 4:11-13)

We are not here as subjects of the King of Kings (Revelation 17:14), busily establishing the kingdom of heaven on earth. (Revelation 11:15)

We are here as Gods ambassadors (II Corinthians 5:20) in this present evil world(Galatians 1:4) in a time when Satan is the god of this world. (II Corinthians 4:3-4)

Everything changed when Israel fell (Romans 11:11) so that salvation could cometo the Gentiles by Gods grace, not by works of righteousness.



The plain truth that too often has be neglected or denied is that we are not Israel (Galatians 3:28, Colossians 3:11) and Israels place and position are not ours to usurp. (Ephesians 2:12) Our inheritance is in heavenly places (Ephesians 1:3) not on this earth, which explains why we are told to Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. Colossians 3:2

Now might be a good time to read the Prayer Requests in your churchs bulletin or in your Prayer Journal to see how many of them are about eternal things and how many are about the things on this earth.

How many Prayer Requests start with thanksgiving (I Thessalonians 5:18) rather than Lord please do this and Lord please give me that. Instead of hearing prayers of tanksgiving, the Lord more often must endure our selfish whine.

When we are given a list of items that cannot separate us from the love of God,of course we are thankful for the enduring connection rather than having to suffer separation.

That said, note the items that we might endure, even though we are not separated from the love of God:

...shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more

than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:35-39)

Rather than sitting by the pool, enjoying the abundant life, it would be wise to be prepared to endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. (II Timothy 2:3) Believers who think they have Israels promises for an abundant life are AWOL rather than fighting the good fight of faith. when He gave the SERMON ON THE MOUNT which is a very good thing since you have disobeyed or assiduously avoided most of what He taught in that message.

Christ taught That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: (Matthew 5:22). Weve all been angry lots of times, but where is the judgment?

And Christ taught whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council. (Matthew 5:22). Well here goes: Raca, Raca, Raca to you and the horse you rode in on. Now what? Where is this council to which Christ referred?

And Christ taught whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire. (Matthew 5:22) Does that mean Paul is in danger of hell fire because Paul saidsome people were fools? (Galatians 3:1-3)

Have you ever been angry, maybe at a family member, but you still went to church

? Did you leave your gift on the altar, make up with the person who was the object of your anger, and then return to church and give your gift?

Have you ever seen or heard of anyone in any church ever doing that which Christ explicitly instructed in Matthew 5: 24?

For reasons only he could explain, former President Jimmy Carter allowed himself to be interviewed by Playboy magazine and gave this infamous quote: Christ set some almost impossible standards for us. Christ said, I tell you that anyone who looks on a woman with lust has in his heart already committed adultery. Ive looked



on a lot of women with lust. Ive committed adultery in my heart many times.

That being the case, what was he doing teaching Sunday School when the penalty for adultery is death? (Matthew 5:28, Leviticus 20:10)

When President Carter said Christ set some almost impossible standards for us he was wrong twice.

Our 39th President should have omitted the word almost because the standards Christ gave in His Sermon on the Mount are impossible for us.

And that is because the standards Christ set forth were not for us, but rather for Kingdom Israel. The whole of the Sermon on the Mount is about thy kingdom come and when the Kingdom does come, Israel will be able to meet Christs standards, having been enabled by the Holy Spirit.

...I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and yeshall keep my judgments, and do them. (Ezekiel 36:27)

If you are holding fast to the Sermon on the Mount and protesting that you are doing the best you are able to be that person with the right attitudes, (beatitudes), now might be a good time to ask you to put your money where your mouth is.

Nothing personal, mind you, but how about sending a gift of $50,000.00 to the Di

spensational Bible Institute to aid its ministry of equipping new preachers to teach with Pauline dispensational understanding?

Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away. (Matthew 5:42, Luke 6:40)

You have just been asked to give, and your gifts will be used by a 501c3 not-for-profit corporation, so that you can deduct what you give from your income taxes.

Although you might spiritualize verses so as to pretend that you are following the Sermon on the Mount, we both know you have no intention of sending a gift, which is why we did not give you a mailing address: we knew you wouldnt need it. ab

out your FORGIVENESS when He said ...if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: But if ye forgive not men their trespasses,neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. (Matthew 6:14-15)

The good news is the basis for our being forgiven is the cross of Christ and not our attitudes toward other people. Of course when Jesus said what He did aboutforgiveness it was 21 chapters before His payment for sin took place.

Millions upon millions of people are led in their churches to pray for their trespasses to be forgiven and to forgive those who trespass against them, thinkingthat assures them of Gods forgiveness.

Such prayers and such thinking were rendered inappropriate nearly two thousand y

ears ago because of Christs payment for sin with His death, burial and resurrection.

It makes no sense to pray for forgiveness of trespasses when God is not imputingtheir trespasses onto them. (II Corinthians 5:19)

Our trespasses and everyone elses trespasses were imputed to Christ, which is why they are no longer being imputed to us. (II Corinthians 5:21)

Because Christ was made to be sin in our place God could impute our sin (trespas



ses) to Christ so that an acceptable payment for sin could be made. That is how God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them, (II Corinthians 5:19) but make no mistake: reconciliation is not salvation.

While it is true that everyones sins were imputed to Christ, His payment for oursin must be accepted before Christs righteousness is imputed to us. Reconciliation is available to everyone, but no individual is reconciled without faith in Christs payment for his or her sins.

The gospel of Christ is the power of God unto salvation (Romans 1:16), the gospel of Christ is the preaching of the cross (I Corinthians 1:18), the gospel of Christ is His death, burial and resurrection as payment for our sins. (I Corinthians 15:1-4)

Asking God to forgive us because we forgive other people evidences a failure toappreciate what Christ accomplished for us by shedding His blood on that cruel cross.

Similarly, millions are depending on If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (I John 1:9)

Since we already have forgiveness (Ephesians 1:7, Colossians 1:14) and have alre

ady been cleansed (II Corinthians 5:17), what would our point be in asking for forgiveness and cleansing? Clearly, I John 1:9 must be instructions for people who are lacking what God imputed to us on the merits of Christs cross.

First John is an Hebrew epistle and we are not the Hebrews. John agreed to communicate with the circumcision and not with Gentiles (Galatians 2:7-9); and we know that Israel must await its grace (I Peter 1:13) until Christ returns to this Earth and their prayer of thy kingdom come (Matthew 6:10) is answered.

We are saved by grace through faith now (Ephesians 2:8-9) and have a present possession of complete forgiveness (Romans 5:1, 5:11, Colossians 2:13).

Our response to sin (trespasses) should not be asking for the forgiveness we alr

eady have, but rather putting an end to the bad behavior (Ephesians 2:22, 24) and being who God has made us in Christ Jesus (Galatians 2:20-21).

about your FINANCES when He said ...If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me. (Matthew 19:21)

When people who arent selling everything to give anything to anybody claim to be followers of Jesus (I Corinthians 11:1), it is probably not that they mean to be hypocrites: more likely they simply dont know that following Jesus is the wrong thing for us to do. They think Jesus was talking to them when He was not.

One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the po

or, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow me. (Mark 10:21)

Every spring there are people who make a big show out of dragging a cross around; and while they might get publicity, those same people not only have not sold whatsoever they owned, they would think you were crazy if you suggested such a course of action.

Clearly, Christs instructions were for a different setting and not for present day application.



When Israels kingdom is in place, God promises to feed and clothe His kingdom people.

We have no such promise:

...this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat. (IIThessalonians 3:10) So much for having our daily bread given to us.

The fact that things in the Bible change from time to time is not difficult to see:

And he said unto them, Take nothing for your journey, neither staves, nor scrip,neither bread, neither money; neither have two coats apiece. (Luke 9:3)

Later, Christ changed His specific instructions:

Then said he unto them, But now, he that hath a purse, let him take it, and likewise his scrip: and he that hath no sword, let him sell his garment, and buy one. (Luke 22:36)

The but now tells you that what had been the previous instructions (Luke 9:3) had been replaced.

Consider what this but now teaches us:

Now to him that is of power to stablish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began, But now is made manifest, and by the scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, made knownto all nations for the obedience of faith: (Romans 16:25-26)

These verses clearly state that the preaching of Jesus Christ according to the revelation of the mystery is a but now activity which can happen because that which had been kept secret has been made known.

The apostle Peter makes it clear that what Peter preached at Pentecost was nothi

ng new but rather was a continuation of Israels prophetic program:

Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord; And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you: Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began. (Acts 3:19-21)

Peter says he was preaching that which everyone knew since the world began and Paul says he was preaching that which had been kept secret since the world began. The content of their messages simply cannot have been the same.

Understanding that Jesus wasnt talking to you about FINANCES then, is greatly hel

ped by separating Israels prophecy information from Pauls mystery information.

Jesus Christ is our Savior, and so it is right for us to pay attention to everyword He said; but since He was not talking to us, we do well to look to Paul for our doctrine because it is in Pauls writings alone that we find Christs instructions for us. (I Corinthians 14:37, Romans 11:13, I Timothy 1:16))

Every verse in our Bible has three applications: (1.) historical, (2.) spiritual (3.) doctrinal. When it comes to the red letters, just as in the Old Testament, just as in the Hebrew Epistles, only two of the three applications work for us:



our doctrine must be entirely Pauline.

And here might be a good place to make another point that hardly anyone seems to have learned: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John are Old Testament books.

The fact that you have a title page in your Bible between Malachi and Matthew which supposedly separates the Old from the New Testament means less than nothingwhen we have it from God that where a testament is, there must also of necessitybe the death of the testator. (Hebrews 9:16)

From that we know that the first 27 chapters of Matthew, the first 15 chapters of Mark, the first 23 chapters of Luke and the first 19 chapters of John are before the death of the testator (Christ); so they must be under the Old Testament.

No less important than the separating of Israels prophecy program from our mystery program is the issue of separating Israels legal covenant (Jeremiah 31:31-34) and our freedom from the law. (Romans 6:14, Galatians 5:1)

This affects your FINANCES in that you would be wrong to tithe and that when Christ taught tithing (Matthew 23:1, 2, 23), He was not talking to you.

Under the law, giving was a necessity (Malachi 3:9-10) which is not true for you. (II Corinthians 9:7)

What is really terrible about teaching the tithe, however, has nothing to do with money or the fact that no one can tell you what to give because you are to purpose your giving in your heart.

What is terrible is that teachers of the tithe put you under Gods curse if you dont give:

Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings. Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation( the Body of Christ is not a nation but a new creature). (Malachi 3:8-9)

Not only have you not robbed God by not tithing, you cannot be put under a curse

:

Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree: (Galatians 3:13)

It is bad enough for preachers to put people under the law when they are supposed to be at liberty (Galatians 4:9-11), but it is reprehensible to threaten people with a curse when Christ took our curse upon Himself.

When Jesus said: Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again. (Luke 6:38) not only was Jesus not talking to you, He wasnt even talking about FINANCES.

Pressed down, shaken together and running over is about grapes, and grapes are used as an illustration of what the Lord was speaking about in the context, which was love and forgiveness.

Giving so as to get something in return is actually condemned in the same context. (Luke 6:34) You might be uncomfortable hearing that



Jesus wasnt talking to you but isnt

that better than pretending you are obedient to what He said when you are not? Havent you always been bothered by the many things the Lord said to which you payno attention? Dont you get tired of making excuses? Have you noticed that you treat some Bible verses as if they did not even exist?

When you enjoy that great feast of turkey and dressing at Thanksgiving time, doyou obey the Lords instruction that When thou makest a dinner or a supper, call not thy friends, nor thy brethren, neither thy kinsmen, nor thy rich neighbours; lest they also bid thee again, and a recompence be made thee. But when thou makest a feast, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind:? (Luke 14.:12-13)

Of course not: but why not? And why continue to say that you are following the Lord when you are not and would be wrong if you did?

The principle involved here is sometimes called dispensationalism, is sometimes called progressive revelation, and is almost always called weird or scary.

However, it is really quite simple: after the Lord ascended to heaven (Acts 1:9), after Peter preached how terrible it was the Christ had been crucified (Acts 2

:33), and that the Great Tribulation was about to take place (Acts 2:16-17), the Lord Jesus Christ did something no one was expecting: He made a return to thisEarth, and it wasnt the prophesied Second Coming (Acts 9:3-5).

It was then that Saul of Tarsus became Paul the Apostle, and Christ gave our marching orders to Paul (I Corinthians 14:37), and Paul wrote them in the thirteenbooks of the Bible in which Christ does speak to you through Paul.

When Paul got his instructions from the Lord, Paul was the last person to see Christ (I Corinthians 15:8) and the first person to be saved by grace alone, so as to be our pattern. (I Timothy 1:16)

When Paul writes to or about Israel, likely you will know it, (Romans 2:17). For

the most part, however, when you read Pauls books is

when Jesus was talking to you

In the four gospels (Luke 1:70) and in Peters preaching in the book of Acts, themessage was that which had come from the mouth of all Gods that which had come from the mouth of all Gods 21)

Christ gave a mystery message to Paul that had never been preached because it hadbeen hidden since the world began. (Romans 16:25-26)

That those two messages cannot be the same is obvious; but what must not be as obvious is that Christ is talking to you in Pauls epistles, not in the gospels, not in the red letters.

Perhaps this still seems a bit weird and more that a bit scary: thats to be expected. After all, there are no denominations teaching this concept and there are no accredited schools you could attend to learn it.



So what is a person to do?

Having read this material, should you pluck out your eye? (Matthew 5:29) Havingheld this weird and scary booklet in your hand, must you now cut off your hand?(Matthew 5:30)

Are you determined to continue to take the place of a Jew and listen to Christ when He wasnt talking to you? Or will you learn from Christ (through Paul) that in Christ there is neither Jew nor Greek, but a new creature? (Galatians 3:28)

Jesus wasnt talking to youin the red

letters is actually very good news (once you get over the shock). When He was not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel, (Matthew 15:24) Christ said that Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. (John 15:13)

When Christ taught Paul the revelation of the mystery (Ephesians 3:1-10), we lea

rn of a love even greater than that which had been revealed in the gospels:

But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8)

That is very good news, because we heathen Gentiles most certainly would not have been numbered among His friends in the gospels. That means that Christs love for us is revealed to us by Christ, but only through Pauls writings.

When Christ was talking to His friends (Israel), we were His enemies. That means that what Christ tells us through the apostle Paul is the best possible news in that when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. (Romans 5:10)

The Lord Jesus Christ was made under the law (Galatians 4:4) and instructed thosewho listened to Him in the gospels to follow the teachings of those who sit in Moses seat. (Matthew 23:1-3)

When Christ taught Paul the revelation of the mystery (Colossians 1:25-26) we learn that we are not under the law (Romans 6:14) and should stand in our liberty(Galatians 5:1) because the law is now weak and beggarly. (Galatians 4:9)

Just as Jehovah God spoke to Israel through

Just as Jehovah God spoke to Israel through 10) speaks to us through Paul. (Romans 11:13) Starting in Acts chapter nine, Christ actually met with Paul several t

imes (Acts 26:16-17) and He gave Paul our doctrine. (I Timothy 1:3).

When the Lord Jesus was talking to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, He told them to search the scriptures because they spoke of Him. (John 5:39) Christ was Israels prophesied Messiah and so when Jesus was doubted, He sent His doubtersto the scriptures.

None of Pauls thirteen books were written when Christ was challenged by unbelieving Jews; and that time, Paul was still Saul, and Saul was also an unbeliever.



After Christ dealt with Saul in Acts nine, Paul emerged with information that was so new and different that it could not be found by searching the scriptures. That is why Paul says that what he wrote included unsearchable riches of Christ (Ephesians 3:8) which had been kept hidden. (I Corinthians 2:7)

Admittedly, it is hard to look past the red letters, especially when we see such juicy verses as and all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive. (Matthew 21:22) No doubt you havent even one selfish bone in yourentire body, but even so you have to admit that is one prayer promise you wouldrather not look past.

And what could be better than getting whatsoever you ask? We learn from Paul that now we actually get exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, (Ephesians 3:20)

Our prayer promise is better than the one Christ gave to kingdom Israel in thatwe get Gods best for us; and that is very good since we dont even know for what we should ask. (Romans 8:26)

Jesus was talking to youin the books

that Paul wrote means that you have been disobedient to Christ when you failed to pay attention to Paul.

Ooops. What Christ said to Israel, under the law, about Israels earthly kingdom,was spoken of by all the prophets, and...

What Paul said, to the body of Christ, free from the law, about a heavenly homeaccording to mystery information that no one knew, are...

Mutually exclusive. You cant have it both ways.

You cant be both a friend and an enemy. You cant get whatsoever you ask in prayer

while not knowing for what you should pray. You cant accept Christs having been made a curse for you and still think you can be cursed for not tithing.

That is such good news, especially when you learn from Pauls preaching of Christaccording to the revelation of the mystery that:

1. You are the church, not just a member of somebodys man-made organization. (Colossians 1:24)

2. You are complete in Christ, without water baptism, without the memberships approval, without living it, without enduring to the end. (Colossians 2:8-10)

3. You are not under the law but under grace. (Romans 6:14)

4. God is at peace with you, even when you mess up. (Romans 5:1)

5. God forgives you because of Calvary, not because you asked. (II Corinthians 5:19, Colossians 2:14)

6. You are reconciled to God and God saves your soul when you trust Christs payment for your sins, not because of your good works. (Titus 3:5)



7. God sees you as a new creature (II Corinthians 5:17) crucified with Christ. (Galatians 2:20)

8. Rather than inheriting Israels kingdom on the earth, your blessings are in heavenly places. (Ephesians 1:3)

9. You give because you want to and you give what and when you are able, not a certain amount because you have to. (II Corinthians 9:7)

10. Just as God has provided our salvation by grace through faith in His words,God would have us to walk in newness of life by grace through faith in His words: not by sight, signs, wonders or works. (Colossians 2:6)

The logistics are simple. When we turn our backs on Paul, we turn toward eitherChrists dealing with Israel in the Old Testament books of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John (Hebrews 9:15-17) or we turn toward the Hebrew epistles which are writtento Tribulation Israel to help them during their Great Tribulation. (Hebrews 2:5) We would be wrong to turn our backs on Paul since Christ would have Paul to beour pattern. (I Timothy 1:16)

We know that the Old Testament was given to Israel (Exodus 19:5-6) but what we may have missed is that Israel also gets the New Testament. (Jeremiah 31:31-34, Hebrews 8:8-10)

The term New Testament Christian is not in the Bible and is actually an oxymoron since the New Testament belongs to Israel and in Christ there is neither Jew norGreek. (Colossians 3:11)

We know that the Old Testament does not start at Genesis 1:1 but rather 69 chapters later, and we know the New Testament does not exist before the cross. (Hebrews 9:15-18) And now we know we are in neither the old nor the new, we are (drumroll please) The Church of Whats Happening Now.

So, how did we get in this mess whereby almost every church and every almost church-goer has missed the plain and simple truth that:

Jesus wasnt talking to you

You may want to verify what you are about to read in books that deal with the history of the church for the past twenty or so centuries, but here is a summary of a digest of the Cliff Notes:

After three centuries of Ante-Nicene church fathers posturing competing positions, doctrinal declension went from bad to worse after the Council of Nicaea in 325A

.D.

Peter was said to be the pattern, our church was said to have begun with John and Peter, and our instructions were said to be all about What Would Jesus Do? as we follow In His Steps.

When the Emperor Constantine declared himself to be the Summus Pontifex, what followed was more than ten centuries of Dark Ages, during which time people who professed Christ rather than Mary or the Popes, people who denied transubstantiation, were fed to lions or burned at the stake.



During the Dark Ages, for a common person to read the Bible was a sin for whichthere was no forgiveness; and so the people were spoon fed from the papist pulpit.

The Bible was said to exist only in the Latin text and the common and largely illiterate people could learn the stories that were in the Bible from paintings and stained glass windows.

Those who first made the Bible available in the language of the people were killed for their trouble; but when Martin Luther quoted Paul, of all people, the Protestant Reformation began.

Sad to say, the Protestant acorn did not fall far from the shade of the tree that produced the Dark Ages; and so the recovery of Pauline doctrine has been tedious and slow.

Since no personage in the history of the world is as important as the Lord Jesus Christ, it is easy to see why Christ would be given more attention than Paul. What has been missed is that Christ delegated to Paul those doctrines which constitute our marching orders; and when Christians do not follow the Pauline pattern, they are being disobedient to the very Lord Jesus they claim to follow.

If that is or is not a reasonable synopsis of how Pauls books became so neglected

, the undeniable fact is, they were and still are.

In defense of his support of same-sex unions, President Barak Obama, at a campaign event in Ohio said: If people find that controversial, then I would just refer them to the Sermon on the Mount, which I think is, in my mind, for my faith, more central than an obscure passage in Romans.

When our forty-fourth Commander-In-Chief purchased his Bible, all sixty-six books of the Bible were included, all equally accessible, none of them obscure.

Romans became obscure, no doubt, because Romans was not being read as much as Matthew. Might that be partly because while in Chicago, President Obama attended a church oriented toward community organizing based on Israels kingdom, thus renderi

ng Romans obscure?

Rather than imagining theres no heaven, no hell beneath us, above us only sky as John Lennon would have us to do, imagine if Pauls books had been central for the past fifteen hundred or so years, rather than obscured by making Christs message to kingdom Israel the center of attention. Most certainly, this would be a very different world, and hell would not be littered with water baptized people who tried to follow in Jesus steps.

The first red-letter New Testament ever printed was published in 1899 and the first complete Bible with Christs words in red came out two years later.

Lous Klopsch came up with the idea, and this is what he said about printing Chri

sts words in red: ...the reader is enabled to trace unerringly the scarlet threadof prophecy from Genesis to Malachi. Like the Star which led the Magi to Bethlehem, this light shining through the entire Word, leads straight to the person ofthe Divine Messiah, as the fulfillment of the promise of all the ages.

And so the red letters were ever and always intended to point to the Messiah and His fulfillment of prophesys promise, and that is exactly what they have accomplished. The problem with that is when He served as Israels Messiah and as He fulfilled prophecies promise



Jesus wasnt talking to you

None of this matters if the Bible is nothing more than an history of ancient peoples, interesting only for its corroboration of historical accounts. One might just as well use books by Flavius Josephus or Edward Gibbons.

None of this matters if the Bible is nothing more than a source of pithy sayings used to garnish devotional talks. One might just as well use Benjamin FranklinsPoor Richards Almanac or Charles Schultz Theology of Peanuts.

However, this matters greatly if the Bible is Gods words of wisdom and instruction to be believed and acted upon. (Colossians 1:9-10) At that point, knowing when the Lord is speaking to us and when He is not matters because acting upon His instructions has eternal consequences.

There are millions upon millions of people who own very nice gilt-edged genuineleather bound Bibles that they never read much less study.

There are millions upon millions of people who have no use for the Bible except

at weddings and funerals; and even then they dont much care about the contents beyond Psalm 23.

There are millions and millions of people, and their number increases each year, who no longer see the Bible as relevant, having relegated it to the scrap-heapof the outdated and outmoded stories and myths of a bygone era.

And while this booklet has no meaning to those millions, if you are one of the few who cares about what Jesus said and to whom He said it, learning that

Jesus was talking to you in Pauls

writings may be the most important truth you learned since the day you were saved. Jesus was asked ...what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life? (Matthew 19:16); and Jesus did not say anything about His death on the cross, Hisburial for three days, or His resurrection. What Christ did say was ... if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments. (Matthew 19:17)

Our salvation is a gift given by grace through faith and not by works. (Ephesians 2:8-9) The gospel by which our souls are saved does not appear in the red letters and is not stated in any of the four gospels. We must go to Paul, as our Lor

d would have us to do. It is Paul and only Paul who will: ...declare unto you the gospel By which also ye are saved how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures: (I Corinthians 15:1-4)

It is Paul who teaches us that we have been crucified with Christ (Galatians 2:20), it is Paul who teaches us how to pray (Colossians 1:9-10); it is Paul because the Lord Jesus Christ gave to Paul the doctrines that we need to act upon so that we do all that we do, not for Paul, but for Christ.

Jesus Wasn't Talking to You( the Body of Christ)

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